MSNBC’s Joy Reid Faces Call for Deposition About Trump Bias

January 08, 2019

A Trump supporter argues that Reid has opened the door to a query on whether the television host is predisposed to seeing anyone in a MAGA hat as a racist.

A defamation lawsuit against Joy Reid may have avoided one high-stakes legal issue only to raise another. On Monday, Roslyn La Liberte asked a New York federal judge to allow a deposition for Reid so that the MSNBC host could testify about, among other topics, personal bias and animus toward Donald Trump and his supporters.

La Liberte found herself the subject of unwanted attention after attending a city council meeting in Simi Valley, Calif., this past June. She wore a MAGA hat. And in a photo that would go viral, it appeared as though La Liberte was shouting at a 14-year-old boy. Later, commentators on Twitter would accuse La Liberte of calling the student a “dirty Mexican,” telling him, “You are going to be the first deported.”

This was false, claims La Liberte. She says her conversation with the boy was a civil one and that the photo was taken out of context. La Liberte has targeted Reid for inciting hatred toward her. She accuses Reid of perpetuating the untruthful impression that she screamed racial slurs at the boy.